The library board voted that a collection of children’s books featuring LGBT content was to be pulled from the shelves of the Rutherford County, Tenn., library’s children’s section. The books in question would be transferred to the adult section, but the library would not remove the titles altogether.
Former library director Luanne James intentionally left the books in the children’s section instead, keeping them there because of her First Amendment-related beliefs. Ms. James was fired as a consequence of intentionally disobeying the library board’s decision.
The board met to resolve the book issue on March 16, and Ms. James lost her job on March 30.
Oddly enough, she had just been onboarded in July 2025 and moved to the Rutherford County Library System from the York County Library System in South Carolina. The library found an interim director to replace Ms. James until someone applies to take her position.
Sixty-three percent of Rutherford County residents are Christian, but a tiny 8% of the full U.S. population is LGBT, as per the Pew Research Center.
A growing population does not enjoy LGBTQIA+ themes in books whose target demographic is children. Heather Cook, who lives in Rutherford County, claimed to be “standing for the truth in opposition to the deception of transgender ideology and gender confusion.” Fellow Rutherford County citizen Emily Adams said, “If parents want their children to have access to these books, they don’t even need to go to the library. They can buy it on Amazon, or they can check them out themselves and bring them home.”
From Richard Land’s Christian Post article, county news reports, and the Pew Research Center, one may infer that many Christians in Rutherford disapprove of surprise LGBT themes in reading materials.
Rutherford is conservative and the fifth-largest Tennessee county as of 2026. This county is close to the metropolis of Nashville and includes bustling, populous cities, such as Murfreesboro and Smyrna. Of all Rutherford County’s cities, Murfreesboro has the largest population.
Interestingly, 66.1% of Rutherford County citizens voted for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election cycle. At that time, Rutherford was the fourth-largest county.
According to the Associated Press and the Christian Post, 132 books were relocated.
One rough count taken from the Rutherford County Library Board meeting minutes contained 124 books total and the motivations behind the censorship. Almost all of them were censored on the grounds that the content “promotes gender confusion,” and approximately 79% of those books were specifically flagged for LGBT themes. Eight other books were censored for violent passages, while an additional 10 were removed for mature themes.
The meeting minutes handout contained 33 pages of large spreadsheets organizing the books by reasons for censorship and their target demographics. The spreadsheets were each a page wide.
Hellbound and Down 